A catastrophic fire tore through the main cold chain facility for the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in Bor, Jonglei State, on Monday afternoon, resulting in the irrevocable loss of thousands of vital vaccines. 

The facility's assistant manager, Mr Lual Ayuen Athiak, told Radio Tamazuj that a solar battery malfunctioned and exploded, setting the building ablaze and consuming the entire structure, along with all the vaccines, drugs, and equipment housed within.

"Solar-powered batteries were installed within the vaccine rooms. One of the batteries was the cause of the fire outbreak in the central cold chain," Lual explained. "As a result, we lost all the EPI equipment and the dry and wet supplies, including the building." 

Lual said the cold chain house was the central hub for distributing vaccines to all nine counties in Jonglei State, and its destruction means there is a significant setback in our efforts to prevent diseases.

"It has disadvantaged the people of Jonglei state regarding vaccine supply to the health facilities. There will no longer be any vaccines that will be supplied on time. The beneficiaries of the vaccines, the children, will not have their vaccines on schedule because all the vaccines have been burned,” Lual added.

Lual said the Jonglei State government will resort to calling on the national authorities and international community for immediate assistance to rebuild the cold chain system and prevent a potential health crisis.